The Nepal Sugar Industries Association has expressed concern that unauthorized sugar imports will not only put domestic sugar sales at risk, but also the sugar industries themselves.

The association has demanded an immediate ban on the uncontrolled import of sugar due to the open border.

The association has issued a statement saying that sugar imports should be controlled to protect domestic industries. The association has demanded that the customs duty on sugar imports be increased. The association has said that to protect the sugar industry, a quota of sugar should be fixed and imports should be allowed after determining the quantity of domestic production and such imports should be done only through Nepal Food Company Limited and Salt Trading Corporation Limited.

The statement states that if there is no smooth sale and distribution of domestic sugar, regular and easy payment of sugarcane to farmers will be adversely affected. The association claims that regular payments have been being made to sugarcane farmers for the past 4/5 years. The association has mentioned that there are 13 sugar industries operating in the country and 115,755 sugarcane farmer families are involved in them. It is claimed that 30,535 people have been directly and indirectly employed in the industries. The association has stated that 21.572 million 148 quintals of sugarcane were crushed in the crushing season of last year and 18.25 million 332 quintals of sugar were produced from it. The annual demand for sugar is 250 thousand metric tons. The association has demanded that the import of sugar be tightened as some industries still have stocks of sugar produced in the last season due to unauthorized imports. Sugarcane crushing has already started in the industries this year. The association has estimated that 227 thousand metric tons of sugar will be produced.